- Gates to testify before House Oversight in Epstein probe
Source: Politico
“Bill Gates is scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee in the coming weeks, as the committee continues its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gates will sit for a transcribed interview June 10, according to a person familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss the committee’s deliberations. His interview comes after the committee issued a March 3 letter requesting his testimony. A spokesperson for Gates said the Microsoft founder ‘welcomes’ the chance to appear before the committee.” (04/08/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/07/bill-gates-testify-congress-epstein-probe-00861678
- Amazon announces plan to screw customers who bought their Kindle devices
Source: Ars Technica
“If you own an older Kindle e-reader, including models with physical keyboards or physical page-turn buttons that you’ve been reluctant to give up, Amazon has bad news for you. The company sent a message to owners of those devices today, informing them that starting on May 20 they would no longer be able to buy or download books from the Kindle Store. The change (as reported by Good E-Reader and elsewhere) affects all Kindles introduced and sold in 2012 or earlier, going all the way back to the original Kindle from 2007. Users will still be able to read books that have already been downloaded to those devices, but they won’t be able to download more, and if they reset those Kindles to their factory defaults, the devices won’t be able to sign back in to an Amazon account.” (04/08/26)
- Harvard scientist’s visa was unlawfully canceled, judge finds
Source: NBC News
“A federal judge in Vermont ruled that Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova’s visa was unlawfully canceled after she was detained at an airport over biological samples she was carrying, handing her a key legal victory in a case that has raised questions about the limits of government power at the border. … Petrova, a Russian-born researcher at Harvard University’s Kirschner Lab, has argued for more than a year that the cancellation was unlawful. She was stopped at Boston Logan International Airport last February after returning from Paris. Her visa was canceled; she was later placed into immigration proceedings and detention. This disrupted her groundbreaking work on advanced imaging technology that has the potential to transform cancer diagnostics, according to fellow researchers.” (04/08/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/harvard-scientist-petrova-visa-detention-rcna267230
- CA: ICE gang thugs shoot, injure motorist during attempted abduction
Source: The Hill
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers shot and injured a man during an attempted stop in California on Tuesday, according to federal authorities. The officers fired shots at Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez during a targeted traffic stop on Interstate 5 in the city of Patterson. His attorney said he is now hospitalized and ‘fighting for his life.’ Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons alleged the driver ‘weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over’ — an accusation disputed by Mendoza Hernandez’s attorney, Patrick Kolasinski.” (04/08/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5821656-ice-officers-california-interstate-5-shooting/
- Rolling Stones reportedly “set to release their 25th and final album” and share new song this month
Source: Radio X [UK]
“The Rolling Stones are reportedly set to release their final album this month. According to The Sun, the legendary rockers — comprised of Mick Jagger (82), Keith Richards (82) and Ronnie Wood (78)— are on the cusp of making their return with their 25th and final record and their first new music since 2023’s Hackney Diamonds. On April Fools Day, the band shared posters under their name The Cockroaches, which invited fans to scan a QR code. … It has since been reported that the band will release a new single entitled Mr Charm this Saturday (11th April), with some reports suggesting an album called Foreign Tongues would follow.” (04/08/26)
- Heuermann pleads guilty to seven murders in Gilgo Beach serial killings
Sourcxe: CBS News
“Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing seven women between 1993 and 2011 and admitted he killed an eighth, in a series of murders that came to be known as the Gilgo Beach serial killings. … The ultimate break in the case when a car registered to Heuermann matched the description a witness gave of the one that picked up victim Amber Costello before she disappeared. Once police made that connection, they started checking cell phone records. Cell phone tower pings connected Heuermann to the victims, prosecutors said. … investigators collected pizza crust Heuermann allegedly tossed in a Manhattan trash can, resulting in what they said was a DNA match.” (04/08/26)
- North Korean regime conducts multiple missile launches over two days, Seoul regime says
Source: United Press International
“North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles on two separate occasions Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, marking three launches over two days after South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret over a drone incursion. At 8:50 a.m. Wednesday, the North launched several short-range ballistic missiles from its coastal Wonsan area toward the East Sea, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters. The missiles flew approximately 150 miles, the JCS said …. North Korea later fired a single short-range ballistic missile from Wonsan toward the East Sea at 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, the JCS said in a separate message. The missile flew approximately 435 miles.” (04/08/26)
- Unionized ProPublica staff are on strike over AI, layoffs, and wages
Source: The Verge
“Unionized staff at ProPublica, one of the country’s leading nonprofit newsrooms, are walking off the job for 24 hours beginning Wednesday and asking the public to honor a digital picket line. The roughly 150 members of the ProPublica Guild are in the midst of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement after unionizing in 2023. The union says key issues are still in contention, including protections around the use of AI, ‘just cause’ provisions around disciplining or firing an employee, layoff protections, and wages. … The unit voted in March to authorize a strike if a deal was not reached with ProPublica management.” (04/08/26)
https://www.theverge.com/news/908401/propublica-union-strike-negotiations-ai-layoffs
- The Economic Destruction of Trump’s War Goes Far Beyond High Gas Prices
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe“[M]ost of the discourse about the economic impacts of the war has focused on the rising prices drivers are facing at the gas pump. That isn’t surprising, as gas prices are an early cost that impact consumers directly. But the emphasis on pain at the pump threatens to badly understate the economic damage of this war. And it helps feed the false impression that, if this new attempt at a ceasefire holds and the war ends somewhat quickly, gas prices will fall back down as fast as they rose, and then all the global economic turmoil the world’s been worrying about will be avoided. It won’t. A lot of economic pain has already been locked in by this war. But to really understand it, it’s necessary to keep a few important economic truths at the front of our minds.” (04/08/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/economic-destruction-trumps-war-goes-far-beyond-high-gas-prices
- Grief, anger, disbelief: War proponents lose it over ceasefire
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos“It’s hard to bodyslam the two-week pause with Iran without taking direct shots at the guy who announced it. But they are trying their best.” (04/08/26)
- You can’t hide your lying ICE: The harassment of Francisco Longoria
Source: The Watch
by Radley Balko“Federal immigration officers racially profiled a man, fired at his truck, raided his home at 4 am, and arrested him. Then they lied about it all — both in public and in court.” (04/08/26)
https://radleybalko.substack.com/p/you-cant-hide-your-lying-ice-th
- Trust marketplace, not the government
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal“Businesses don’t want to harm their customers. That’s no way to stay in business. When a new restaurant opens, people rush to stand in line to try it out. They don’t worry that the restaurant will poison them, and it’s not because of the licenses and permits the owners got from government. Government would love for you to believe this is what keeps you safe, but again, government works harder to protect dishonest businesses than to protect victims. If a business owner is greedy but can’t use government to force you to trade with him or her, this greed is motivation to satisfy you …. It’s only when a crooked business owner has government connections that satisfying the customer loses its importance.” (04/08/26)
- My Quest to Solve Bitcoin’s Great Mystery
Source: New York Times
by John Carreyrou & Dylan Freedman“Bitcoin’s creator has hidden behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto for 17 years. But a trail of clues buried deep in crypto lore led to a 55-year-old computer scientist named Adam Back.” (04/08/26)
- Iran war prods shared action on energy
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“The world has learned enough from past energy crises to know that a shortage of a finite resource like oil requires help from a more boundless resource: trust and cooperation. That’s especially true as the Iran war led to a near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz to the petroleum exports from Gulf countries. From neighborhoods to the United Nations, the closure triggered shared action worldwide to ensure ensure energy supplies. One big reason: The crisis was the largest-ever disruption in the global oil market, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, even more serious than the energy crises of 1973, 1979, and 2022 combined.” (04/07/26)
- In the War on Iran, Every Word Is a War Crime
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider“There are multiple reasons why America’s European and NATO allies have not answered Trump’s call to join the war. They were not respected. They were not consulted. The goals of the war were not articulated. The benefits were not clear while the cost was very clear. But, most importantly, they have not joined the war because it is illegal.” (04/08/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2026/04/07/in-the-war-on-iran-every-word-is-a-war-crime/
- Degrees of Seriousness on the National Debt
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Christopher Baecker“We hit an ignominious milestone recently when the national debt crossed $39 trillion. Naturally, regular citizens have chimed in about what’s to blame, who’s at fault, what can be done, or whether it even matters. The discussion usually takes one or more of the following shapes.” (04/08/26)
https://fee.org/articles/degrees-of-seriousness-on-the-national-debt/
- Viktor Orbán and His American Apologists All Deserve To Lose
Source: Reason
by Matt Welch“Hungary, whose economy led all Central European countries out of the post-communist starting gate, now languishes in the per-capita second tier with once-devastated Romania. It is the 17th-largest economy in the 27-member European Union, despite having the 13th-largest population. Importantly, none of these numbers is obscure, even to a vice president. It’s that Vance and other American Orbánistas define prosperity differently, there and here.” (04/08/26)
https://reason.com/2026/04/08/viktor-orban-and-his-american-apologists-all-deserve-to-lose/
- The Empire Backs Down, For Now
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Trump has announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran after previously threatening to exterminate their ‘entire civilization,’ citing ‘a 10 point proposal from Iran’ as the reason for the climb-down. Trump and his cronies are spinning this as a colossal victory for the United States and framing Tehran’s 10-point plan as a major capitulation to the president’s threats. But some reporters are noting that Iran has had the same terms on the table for weeks — which would mean that it is in fact the White House who is backing down.” (04/08/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/04/08/the-empire-backs-down-for-now/
- America will never recover its authority
Source: UnHerd
by B Duncan Moench“Armageddon has been diverted, at least for another fortnight. Yet if Iran’s civilian infrastructure remains intact, the American postwar order will never recover. The damage is not primarily military, but reputational — a collapse of the legitimacy that once underwrote American leadership. In the same way that, once you say certain things to your spouse, there’s no going back, once your country goes from world policeman to the equivalent of the crazy person at the bar threatening to shoot anyone who looks at him funny, there’s really no going back.” (04/08/26)
- How the War Strengthened Iran’s Hand Against the US and Israel
Source: The Intercept
by Hooman Majd“Survival of the regime alone was a victory — but its demonstration of control over the Strait of Hormuz may be a strategic game-changer.” (04/08/26)
https://theintercept.com/2026/04/08/ceasefire-iran-war-israel-us/
- When Kennedy Bucked the US National-Security State on Cuba
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“Among the 10 points in Iran’s peace proposal that President Trump has now agreed to use as a basis for peace negotiations between the United States and Iran is a plank that prohibits any more attacks on Iran. That point reminds me of what John Kennedy agreed to in his peace agreement with the Soviet Union to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis, an agreement that ultimately led to his assassination at the hands of the U.S. national-security establishment.” (04/08/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/04/08/when-kennedy-bucked-the-u-s-national-security-state-on-cuba/
- Trump’s Iran cease-fire makes the left [sic] lose its mind; but let’s just take the win [sic] … for now
Source: New York Post
by staff“‘TACO,’ anti-Trump crackpot Rick Wilson posted on social media, shortly after the president announced a two-week cease-fire that has Iran agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This ‘Trump always chickens out’ sentiment was repeated by left-wing pundits, who only hours before were furious that President Trump was threatening to ‘blow up the whole country.’ So which is it? You’re mad when he threatens to bomb a country, then mock him when he doesn’t? No matter how many times Trump turns to the same playbook — maximum pressure and outrageous threats to force a deal — Democrats and the press are shocked, shocked by his actions.” [editor’s note: Trump agreed to a ceasefire with the Iranian regime’s offer as the basis of further negotiation. Sure, he’s not in a bunker contemplating suicide as Iranian troops approach, but it’s still a clear and unambiguous loss – TLK] (04/07/26)
- The Perils and Promise of Democracy
Source: Law & Liberty
by Max Skjönsberg“Henry Maine saw the US Constitution as being able to resist the pernicious features of popular government.” (04/08/26)
https://lawliberty.org/classic/the-perils-and-promise-of-democracy/
- The Lesson of The Lorax Isn’t What You Think
Source: The Daily Economy
by Liza Claire“Property rights are an excellent way to ensure wise stewardship of natural resources.” (04/08/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-lesson-of-the-lorax-isnt-what-you-think/
- The System Nobody Credits for Making Us Kinder
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein“Years ago, an MBA student of mine had immigrated from Albania after growing up under Communism. She shared with her classmates what she observed to be the most unexpected mindset difference between Americans and Albanians. She got emotional as she explained how in Albania, charity was rare—caring for anyone other than yourself and your family was uncommon. In contrast, she experienced Americans as generous and caring. My student described how exasperated she felt upon hearing the claim that capitalism leads to a survival-of-the-fittest mentality. In her experience, the opposite was true: under communism, the mindset was not to care for others.” (04/08/26)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/the-system-nobody-credits-for-making
- The Winner of Trump’s Iran War? Iran
Source: Informed Comment
by Juan Cole“Trump announced a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, April 7, the 39th day of the Israeli-US war on Iran. He depended on Pakistani mediators and a 10-point peace plan put forward by Iran itself. It did not win as in, scoring a knockout. It won in the sense that if I went 12 rounds with Deontay Wilder and was still standing up at the end of it, it would count as a win.” (04/08/26)
- “Just following orders” is not a defense for war crimes
Source: Popular Information
by Judd Legum“In March 1968, during the Vietnam War, members of the military killed hundreds of civilians in an incident known as the My Lai massacre. In a subsequent court-martial, Lt. William Calley argued that he was simply following orders from superior officers. Calley was convicted, and the U.S. Court of Military Appeals found that conformity with an illegal order is not a valid legal defense. Therefore, any members of the military who help destroy power plants or assist Trump in killing the entire Iranian civilization could be liable for war crimes.” (04/08/26)
https://popular.info/p/just-following-orders-is-not-a-defense
- Hungary Is a Laboratory for Illiberal Nationalism. The Results Are In
Source: Cato Institute
by Johan Norberg“A 16-year experiment has yielded none of Viktor Orban’s stated goals.” (04/08/26)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/hungary-laboratory-illiberal-nationalism-results-are
- Kentucky’s Supreme Court has ordered senators to abandon their oaths of office
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown“A court ordering the legislature to dismiss a duly passed impeachment resolution is not the judiciary defending co-equality. It is the judiciary subordinating a co-equal branch.” (04/08/26)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/supreme-court-senators-oaths-of-office/
- Live mop
Source: Sex and the State
by Cathy Reisenwitz“Unlike most pride-having, mentally well individuals, I wrote about my anxieties around taking a service-sector job. (Security clearances are a big thing in Huntsville. Recently my dad joked to me that I have at least one qualification: ‘You’re impossible to blackmail!’ he laughed. This is not a challenge.) Among other things, I worried a shit job would somehow preclude me from office work. I imagined a hiring manager smelling the stench of low-skill labor on me before I even walked in.” (04/08/26)
- Trump’s Iran War Is Tearing Apart His Catholic–Evangelical Coalition
Source: Mother Jones
by Kiera Butler“Once allies opposing abortion, gay marriage, and supporting Trump, the war broke them.” (04/08/26)
- Confessions of a Neotenous Man
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan“Today I turn 55. While my kids love to mock my age, the truth is that I feel young. Real young. Every day, my top priority is not fulfilling my duties or conforming to social expectations, but having fun. Biologists have an adjective for my state of being: neoteny. We neotenous creatures retain our juvenile traits long into adulthood.” (04/08/26)
- In Trump’s Department of War [sic], it’s soldiers (not “experts”) calling the shots
Source: Fox News
by David Marcus“When President Donald Trump [pretended he had] changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War last year, many saw it as merely a branding exercise, but as the fierceness of Operation Epic Fury in Iran has shown us, it was much, much more than that. On Easter Sunday, our military pulled off a daring rescue of a downed airman behind enemy lines, and what it made clear, once again, is that Trump’s Department of [Defense] is run by soldiers, not by experts, and the results are phenomenal. As Secretary of [Defense] and former frontline veteran Pete Hegseth has put it many times, his Pentagon will focus on ‘maximum lethality, not tepid legality.'” [editor’s note: If Hegseth is Secretary of War and heads a Department of War, he and it need to return all the money Congress appropriated to the Department of Defense – TLK] (04/07/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/david-marcus-trumps-department-war-soldiers-experts-calling-shots
- “Very difficult, perhaps altogether impossible”: Smith’s political science
Source: EconLog
by Jacob T Levy“Over hundreds of pages, Smith patiently shows why both peace and a tolerable administration of justice are historically rare, and continually fragile. To the extent that some society or other happens to have them, it seems to be neither the natural course of things nor the result of wise and judicious statesmanship but rather barely better than luck. Smith was not an esoteric writer, but he was a patient one. He laid out arguments and counterarguments at narrative length and expected readers to follow along with him.” (04/08/26)
- Madman Theory
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Kym Robinson“Richard Nixon employed a ‘madman theory’ while he negotiated with the North Vietnamese and Soviets. Nixon wanted the leaders of those countries to think that he was unpredictable, volatile and willing to risk nuclear destruction. In turn this caused the Vietnamese and Soviet leaders to tread with reason and use cool minded methods. It forced them to make concessions and placate the irrational leader of the ‘free world.’ The theory is based on the premise that an irrational leader is more dangerous than a rational one. … It is unlikely the current US president has the calculation and awareness for such methods, let alone the understanding of history.” (04/08/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/anti-war-blog-madman-theory/
- The Fed’s Overton Window Is Shifting
Source: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
by David Beckworth“From supply-driven reserves to demand-driven liquidity.” (04/08/26)
https://macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/p/the-feds-overton-window-is-shifting
- A casket cartel tries to bury the competition
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will“In the town of Calvin, the married couple Candi Mentink and Todd Collard conceived an entrepreneurial idea that their state’s law says is forbidden. They sell inexpensive caskets wrapped in vinyl graphic designs depicting hunting, fishing, religious motifs, sports teams’ logos, perhaps even the likeness of famous Oklahomans. Imagine whiling away eternity in a Mickey Mantle casket. Heavenly. Thanks to the internet, they can sell caskets to people in Orlando or Ottawa or Oslo or Okinawa. But not Oklahoma, as they learned when the law, in its majesty, pounced on their company’s booth at the state fair.” (04/08/26)
- Reason Interview: Jacob Siegel
Source: Reason
“The Rise of the Information State.” (04/08/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/04/08/the-rise-of-the-information-state/
- The Briefing Podcast with Michael Waldman, 04/08/26
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
“Speed Round (with Molly Jong-Fast).” (04/08/26)
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 04/08/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Can Trump Rein In Israel, Or Will Iran War Pause Go Up In Smoke?” (04/08/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 04/08/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Ex-Allies Suddenly Join Call for His Removal: ‘He’s Gone Insane.'” (04/08/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/208757/finally-trump-ex-allies-call-25th-amendment-he-gone-insane
- Make It Make Sense, 04/08/26
Source: Washington Post
“Biggest TACO yet? Trump backtracks from ‘Living Hell’ threat.” (04/08/26)
- Rising, 04/08/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on the U.S. and Iran agreeing to a ceasefire after President Trump threatened that ‘a whole civilization will die’ if a deal was not reached.” (04/08/26)
- The David Frum Show, 04/08/26
Source: The Atlantic
“What It Means to Be American.” (04/08/26)
- The Illegal News with Sarah Longwell, 04/08/26
Source: The Bulwark
“Trump Knows His Election Order is Illegal. That’s the Point! (w/ Andrew Weissmann).” (04/08/26)